Tramlines: The Reason 4 have a ticket to ride on the Buskers’ Bus - VIDEO

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Published:09:53Saturday 23 July 2011

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SONG king Eliot Kennedy believes Tramlines is just the ticket to celebrate Sheffield as a city of music - so he’s sponsored a Buskers’ Bus, writes digital editor Graham Walker.

Passengers, who can travel around the city centre festival site for free, will be serenaded by some of festival’s hottest acts, including his new boyband signing, The Reason 4.

Tramlines: All aboard for the Buskers' Bus at the region's free music festival with The Reason 4 - left to right, Marc, Scott, Nathan and Glenn.

VIDEO: Press the play button to watch The Reason 4 talking about their Saturday slot on the Hallam FM Main Stage in Devonshire Green - around 3.25pm - then a sneak performance of what fans will hear on the Buskers’ Bus.

There are two double deckers, doing 20-minute circuits starting at the Devonshire Cat, 11am-10pm on Saturday and Sunday. The routes have been sponsored by The Milestone, VOICE and The Steelworks.

The Steelworks is the name of Eliot’s city-based studio, where the Grammy and Ivor Novello award-winning producer and singer-songwriter has made records with the likes of Bryan Adams, Take That and The Spice Girls.

And he says Tramlines festival-goers are in for a treat when they hear tracks from the greatest record he says he’s ever made - the forthcoming debut album for vocal harmony four piece, The Reason 4.

Crying Out Loud, which also features their debut single Take It All - out on August 7 - will be the first ever release on his new FarWest Music label. The band, who got as far as Simon Cowell’s house at X Factor bootcamp, thrilled music lovers with a showcase of the album this week on the Real Radio Intimate Concert stage, in association with Sheffield Council, at Sheffield Winter Garden.

Today they perform on the Hallam FM Main Stage at Tramlines around 3.25pm.

It’s then all aboard the Buskers’ Bus for an even more intimate concert from Marc Higgins, aged 29, Nathan Rawlings, 30, Glenn Vine, 26 and Scott White, 29.

Marc said: “We’ve spent months making the album with Eliot in Sheffield so we feel like Tramlines is a homecoming concert. The fans mean everything to us.”

Eliot told The Star: “Sheffield is my home and the city means so much to me. It’s great to be a part of Tramlines.”

Lee Mullin, Buskers’ Bus Manager said : “Last year the Bromheads curated Buskers’ Bus was the highlight of many people’s weekend, travelling round the city whilst being entertained by Sheffield’s biggest artists. It connects the peripheral venues with the city centre, making sure festival goers can take in the whole Tramlines site.

“This year we’ve pulled out all the stops. Two double deckers, national artists as well as home-grown talent, secret sets, sing-alongs and much, much more.”

* Tramlines is the UK’s biggest free music festival, set to attract over 130,000 visitors this weekend, July 23 and 24, 2011 - with 70 venues and a Main Stage in Devonshire Green. See our story links for more details and also visit tramlines.

For up to the minute information, regular bulletins and news on the Sheffield music scene, visit thestar.co.uk and links to our other Tramlines stories, plus check out www.tramlines.org.uk